The struggle of not fitting in doesn’t always end when you leave school. Some people are simply destined to be lone wolves and love every solo adventure it takes them on.
Whether you’re finding your place in a relationship, struggling to fit into a new culture or just always end up by yourself somehow, our playlist of songs about not fitting in has the vibrant, self-empowering energy you need to live any life you envision.
Songs About Not Fitting In
1. Radiohead – Creep
Radiohead’s grungy rock hit, Creep, is a landmark track about not fitting in. Its lyrical love story uses the perfection of an unreachable crush to highlight the world-shattering feeling of displacement that comes with being ignored and unwanted;
“You float like a feather, in a beautiful world, I wish I was special, you’re so fucking special. But I’m a creep, I’m a weirdo, what the hell am I doing here? I don’t belong here.”
Radiohead’s harmony artistically flickers between clean indie rock verses and disorienting levels of distortion within the chorus, illustrating the dire contrast of infuriating separation from the breathtaking person you adore.
2. Rush – Subdivisions
The message anchoring Rush’s 1988 rock single Subdivisions still resonates as majestically to this day.
With their signature, free-spirited atmosphere, Rush craft their track around growing up under strict suburban supervision, sparking a dream of escaping to the city lights, far away from rules and respectable conduct;
“Drawn like moths, we drift into the city, the timeless old attraction, cruising for the action, lit up like a firefly, just to feel the living night.”
Rush’s mesmerising comparisons of rigid home life and daydreamed city adventure are matched beautifully with the trouble destined for small town free-thinkers;
“Sprawling on the fringes of the city, in geometric order, an insulated border in between the bright lights and the far unlit unknown … Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone, subdivisions in the high school halls, in the shopping malls, conform or be cast out.”
3. Tessa Violet – On My Own
On My Own is about preferring your own self-fulfilling company over the hassle of keeping up social connections.
This is an obscure anthem for anyone who’s become so used to not fitting in with their peers that they’ve stopped trying altogether; “But why do the work when I’m doing just fine all on my own? And I don’t mind being alone, I’m doing fine, me on my own.”
Tessa Violet’s bluesy pop-rock masterpiece hides the sad truth of feeling hopelessly distant from society, through lines which subtly contrast the chorus’s confident theme of enjoying self-inflicted loneliness; “I want a people that I can call home … It’s probably true that I want to be known.”
4. Noble Poet – Never Fit In
Noble Poet’s hip-hop track Never Fit In is a hard-hitting look back at a childhood of neglect and abuse, encouraging the narrator to feel as useless to his family as to his peers.
This intense rap piece is accompanied by a music video, both worthy of trigger warnings for their sonic and visual depictions of abuse.
However, Noble Poets give a voice to the victims they sing of, rightfully exposing the ever-occurring tragedy of neglect alongside the life-changing traumas inflicted upon the child;
“Hid from the world, found no cure, didn’t makе a difference I was so insecure … Every time you tried to get control, it felt like a noose around my soul, this chokehold only got worse by the words you spoke, yes they hurt.”
As cruelly realistic as Never Fit In is, its profound message is a god-send to anyone still struggling from the lingering trauma of their youth; “All I got was a miserable cage, all that I got was a cynical name, Nimrod the loser; no faking this name, I’ll say it again that my worlds a cage.”
5. ONE OK ROCK – Stand Out Fit In
Japanese rock band One Ok Rock give a refreshing upbeat twist to our list of songs about not fitting in.
With its music video critically highlighting Asian discrimination in schools, this track adopts the perspective of someone who embraces their differences, eventually making friends and living the life they’d always admired from the sidelines.
Stand Out Fit In is an iconic track for anyone struggling to fit in because of their cultural differences, ignited with an empowering, positive message of self-love and respect;
“I know they don’t like me that much, guess that I don’t dress how they want, I just wanna be myself, I can’t be someone else … Big boys don’t cry, shoot low, aim high, eat up, stay thin, stand out, fit in.”
6. Billy Idol – Dancing With Myself
This 1981 punk hit by Billy Idol is another landmark track about not fitting in, focused on finding unmatchable strength in your own uniqueness.
Dancing With Myself reaps its misfit title metaphor from a striking feeling of disconnection from those around you, inadvertently giving you the whole dancefloor, letting you take centre stage;
“I looked all over the world and there’s every type of girl, but your empty eyes seem to pass me by, leave me dancing with myself.”
Billy Idol’s track isn’t melancholically dragged down by its lonely lyrical concept in the slightest, rather creating the enigmatic dance-track that the song itself alludes to.
Even its stand-out line about the deep-rooted, perpetual nature of isolation is crafted as beautifully as it is tragically, artfully reflecting bittersweet self-reliance and the incessant need to independently maintain your strength; “If I had the chance, I’d ask the world to dance, and I’ll be dancing with myself.”
7. Cold – Don’t Belong
Cold’s 2003 metal track, Don’t Belong, blends electronic elements within its lush distortions, crafting a dynamic backdrop for a story of keeping your inherent feelings of shame and insignificance hidden from the world.
Using the cutting metaphor, “I could describe each mistake for you, tattoo it on my tainted heart,” this track is composed as a conversation to the narrator’s lover, revealing the ghosts of his past.
Cold’s lyrics are artfully open-hearted until it comes to the topic of not fitting in; “Can you still feel me or did I slip away, a sick man, a monster, broken still today … Please don’t ever tell the world that I don’t belong.”
This unique sentiment of shame over social insecurity makes Don’t Belong stand out on our list for its realistic insight in the most shadowy aspects of ourselves.